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Showing posts from 2020

Reasons Why Your Hair Is Shedding

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Shedding is a major concern for everyone. Getting the length you desire can be a daunting task and to lose the length  you've worked  to achieve is equally too painful to bear. What I've noticed is people fail to understand the link between your general health and the health of your hair. What you put into your body affects your whole body, including your hair! Shedding doesn't happen overnight - your hair will give you signs that something is wrong; we don't pay attention until it gets worse! 1. Postpartum shedding: I get this complains a lot and get surprised that though ladies are aware of how having a baby affects your hair, it seems reading about it isn't part of the solution we want. The first thing I urge people to do is to Google their problems. When you have a fair idea of what you are experiencing, you are able to either decide on taking the medical route or self - care route. There are situations that merit a visit to the Doctor's office and if you do

3 New Year Hair Care Tips

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Even as we prepare for the new year, I'd like to share a few things you can do to enhance length retention in the coming months. 1. Clear your stash! Take a look at what has worked or failed and if you have to donate them or repurpose them, do so! You will be able to make room for new ones. Check for expiring ones so you can use them up. Let your wishlist also be very short - you'll be able purchase them faster.  2. Set very simple hair goals - exceeding five goals might be an over kill. The lesser the goals, the better the focus. Whatever goal you set, pay attention to how you'll achieve them. That's key! Essentials like the style you wear, the tools you use and the quality of products will enable you hit your targets faster! Once I limited my goals to three, I was forced to consider the most important things.  3. Don't let youtube be your focus! I love YouTube videos but as a youtuber, I have set certain standards and limits regarding what I watch and who I follow

Wash Day(Creme of Nature Plex Bond Mender)

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There is a lot to share about my wash days at the moment so let's get into it. First, I'm at neck length again (for the last time!). My target is armpit in 2021, God willing.  OK, I've touched up about 3 times this year. The last one was about 2 weeks ago! The next one is at the end of December.  As for washing, I did salon wash from July to early October because I couldn't air dry in a bun, roller sets were the go-to. Currently, I can wear a small ponytail and that's been helpful in my own washing. I'll definitely to for a salon touch up, but for the wash, I'd be doing my own thing these days.  What's new?  For my last wash, I tried new products!  1. Pre shampoo: Creme of Nature Plex Bond Mender. I left it in for 10 minutes and then shampooed the hair.  2. I used the new Cantu TXTR (pronounced texture) oil shampoo - it felt amazing!  3. After rinsing out the shampoo, I followed with curly Chic Rice Water Remedy and left it for 5 minutes (it can be left

How To Know If Your Hair Products Are Working?

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There are no fast and easy ways to reach your hair goals though there some few things you can do to enhance length retention. After getting the products, the next step is being able to use them to nourish your hair natural or relaxed hair. The challenge usually comes when you can't figure out if a product is working or not. Here are a few guidelines to help : The outcome of your wash day should be such that you hair is soft and manageable. That's the key to a successful wash day! If you are able to style it without difficulties, you are certainly doing something right. How do we get that outcome though? How does your hair feel after using your shampoo? Is it dry? Is it moisturized? Does it tangle up? Does it really clean the scalp and hair? Are you able to comb after rinsing the shampoo? If you end up with soft and clean hair, then the shampoo is OK. If you have tangles and dryness, follow immediately with conditioner or deep conditioner. When you do, does the hair become easie

Why Your Hair Might Still Be Breaking

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When hair keeps breaking, we usually assume it's lack of moisture or lack of protein. I've seen cases where you'd do all the right things and still experience breakage. These factors may explain the cause of your breakage: 1. The hair style choice might be adding a lot of weigh or strain on your strands. After take down, this may weaken the hair and cause breakage. Elaborate hair styles tend to also cause more damage as you try to take it down. Even the way your cornrows underneath your wigs are done  may be the cause of the breakage!  2. Not trimming: Once you set out to get healthy hair, you have to get rid of the damaged hair as soon as possible. Old, damaged hair tends to tangle up a lot causing breakage. No amount of products will restore it hence better cut it off and have healthy hair to work with. 3. Too much moisturizer can cause the hair to be fragile. Although you have to moisturise the hair as often as you can, the quantity of moisturiser shouldn't make the

5 Moisturising and Sealing Mistakes

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Aside being able to stop breakage and retain length with moisture, moisturising and sealing is essential in protecting your hair from the changing seasons and the environmental impact it has on the hair. In light of this, we do our best to incorporate this technique in our daily regimen yet we may end up with bad results if we commit the following mistakes.  Using too much moisturiser.  Just because you want your hair to be moisturised doesn't mean it should be drenched with the product. A little goes a long way to prevent hygral fatigue. Wet hair will also cause breakage thereby making the process  counterproductive to what we aim to achieve.  Secondly, using too much oil or butter to seal. This notion of more oils to prevent moisture loss will leave your hair greasy!  Next is moisturising with oil moisturizer and not water based moisturizer. These oil moisturizers are similar to moisturising oils. They penetrate the strands but you need moisture in the form of water based moistur

How To Do A Corrective Relaxer

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What is a corrective relaxer? Usually, when you don't get the desired texture at the end of a relaxer process, you may consider 'correcting' the under processed hair in order to have an even texture all through the hair. Client picture  The reason corrective relaxers may help are: 1. It balances the under processed hair with the already relaxed hair. You are able to get the texture you wanted.  2. It limits breakage from handling multiple textures.  It's recommended you wait 6 weeks after the relaxer process to get a corrective relaxer done. The new growth will make it easier to apply the relaxer. You begin with the new growth and then pull the relaxer through the under processed parts before washing off.  Personally, I prefer managing the textures until the next relaxer is due then I do both corrective and regular relaxer at the same time.  Be sure to deep condition your hair often if you plan to wait till your next relaxer appointment. 

Moisture Training Your Hair

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 This is a technique I've been trying to get my clients to follow for the first 6 weeks of the hair growth. Basically, when you have extremely damaged hair, you need to focus on repairing and restoring before you focus on length. In the process of repairing, you are certainly paying attention to length retention with all the treatments and styling you do.  How do you moisture train your hair? First, be sure to moisturise and seal every single day! Dry and brittle hair requires constant moisture and over time, you'll notice drastic changes in the hair. Secondly, use a moisture based deep conditioner as often as 2 times a month or weekly for the first few months you start. This will boost the moisture levels and also speed up the repair process.  Thirdly, trim off all damaged ends. This makes styling easier and maintaining the health of the hair, a priority. Another technique to boost moisture in the hair is the daily mist. Daily misting acts a s buffer during the day thereby ens

Advice For Beginning Your Hair Journey

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The excitement that you feel when you get to understand growing long hair is possible can cause you to create more harm than good for your hair. Read and Read  I can't reiterate this enough! I’ve observed that 90% of ladies either skip information or simply don't read beyond two or three lines of any article. They want to experience length but don't want the sweat that comes with it. A simple cursory look at the first or last paragraph of an article doesn't mean you've mastered a particular topic or technique. The end result is a partially successful implementation of that knowledge. At the end, frustration sets in when you don't seem to make a headway. Know what you read  There are a thousand and one people writing and sharing what they think is right for your hair. These are well intended but is it what you need? Must you do all the 10 wash steps to achieve results? Does your hair need that particular protein treatment you've read about? Does it matter if

How To Manage Your New Growth

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To successfully stretch your relaxer, one of the major hurdles to overcome is keeping the new growth soft and manageable. To prevent dryness, focus the deep conditioner on the new growth during your wash. This is the time to include protein based deep conditioning treatments in your journey. Using protein helps to strengthen the hair and the line of demarcation too. Don't use protein products too often, once a month is OK. Another technique is to moisturize the line of demarcation as often as possible to prevent breakage. The new growth will be thicker than the relaxed parts hence the point where they meet (demarcation point) too is very fragile and can break off easily. Moisturising with a focus on that part stops dryness. This is the time to use your hair mist before the moisturizer. In addition, using heavy butters to seal also help if the weather is dry.  Lastly, be very gentle when styling your hair to limit stressing the hair as well as causing breakage. Know when to end your

How To Transition From Damaged Hair To Healthy Hair

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This write up on how to transition your hair  will be in two parts to cover natural hair and relaxed hair. Find the problem  First, identify and acknowledge your own actions and inactions in damaging your hair. We tend to shift blame on the hair dressers but if you are armed with knowledge about hair care, your guidance will facilitate the process of caring for your hair at the salon or home. What have you failed to add or take out of your regimen? Your hair is unique  In addition, you ought to understand your hair is unique and should be treated as such. You can't determine your growth rate until you track your growth. Seeing someone hit her goals in weeks doesn't translate into you achieving the same thing. Your diet, environment and even hair tools can influence your length retention. Accept what your hair can and cannot do, you'll be in better frame of mind to work on it    Quality products   Be prepared to break the bank when you begin your journey. I'm not referri

How To Avoid Spilt Ends

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Length retention isn't as easy as it seems and spilt ends even make it harder! The key to spilt ends is trimming off dead ends as early as possible! Regular trims translates into getting rid of old hair that may have the splits. Early trimming prevents the split from getting further down towards the root.  In addition, you need to keep your ends off your shoulders if you are at that length. Friction from the rub can damage the ends! Lastly, start treating your hair right even when it's short. That minimizes damage as the hair gets longer and that would mean being able to hold on to the ends for a bit longer rather than having to cut off the hair all the time. To purchase hair products to your hair, check out our shop on Instagram @emprezzglamhub or Facebook @emprezzglamhub

How To Retain Length In 12 Weeks

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This is going to be a simple breakdown of 5 things you can do each week to retain length. Tip 1  Aim for a low manipulation style. I'm not all about extentions and low term protective styles if your hair is past shoulder length. It allows to you deal with your hair at least once week to give it better treatment. For naturals, you may not need to wash weekly but bi monthly wash will do your hair more good.  Tip 2  Consider hair mists to keep the exposed parts of your hair moisturized. When I wear buns, the exposed hair gets drier whilst the rest of the hair stays soft. Using a hair mist will compensate for the moisture loss.  Tip 3 Deep condition your hair. You can do the double step - protein deep conditioning, followed by moisture deep conditioning.  Tip 4 Pay attention to the ends. Prwbent breakage at the ends of the hair. This part is fragile for the reason that it's the oldest part of the hair hence has experienced more exposure. Tip

Facial Products You Can Use In Your Hair

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It may seem counterproductive when using products meant for skin in your hair but you'll be amazed at how beneficial the products are for your hair whether natural hair or relaxed hair. 1. Oils Most oils used on face are equally effective for hair treatment. For example, jojoba oil, Argan oil and vitamin E oil at egreag for those with dry scalp as well as dry hair. 2. Facial toners and Moats  Rose water: This is best known as a facial toner but it's a great mist for hydrating your hair too. Facial mists usually contain about 70% distilled water and other hydrating ingredients that can be safely used in the hair as moisturizers too. Aloe vera is a great plant that can used too.  3. Serums like hyaluronic acid and snow mushroom function like glycerin; they are humectants. They draw moisture into your hair! Be sure to spritz your hair lightly with water first before using them 4. African black soap can serve as a face wash and a shampoo! This multipurpose soap is a lifesaver when

10 Relaxer Stretch Tips

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Getting that long and healthy relaxed hair requires planning and journnaling your regimen. Relaxed hair thrives on a lot of practices that require time hence you need to determine what will work for you. 1. Plan the hair style you will be wearing to minimize manipulation and make wash days less stressful.  2. Plan the products you'll need such that they are protein and moisture balanced. You'll need to prepare your products down to help you reach out for them when you need them. Don't wait till you are struggling before you go searching.  3. Keep your hair moisturized even if you braid or weave it up. When strwtving your relaxer, breakage is the last thing you need.  4. Cut down on weekly wash and stretch the washing to once every 2 weeks in order to prevent tangles and knots if possible. Less manipulation, less frustration.  5. Do more green house effect to keep the new growth soft and manageable.  6. Work in sections from washing to styling to limit tangles and knots.  7.

10 Hair Tips For Lockdown

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No one wants to suffer from dry, brittle and dull hair whilst in Lockdown so what can you do to protect your tresses? I've put together a short video on hso to keep your thriving even in Lockdown  10 hair tips for Lockdown 

ACV RINSE PREPOO

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Apple cider vinegar  is quite popular in the hair care world for its ability to help with restoring PH of the hair. The most common use is usually after washing, as a last step treatment in the form of a rinse. However, you can use it as a pre shampoo rinse too and that's what I did during this wash.  To begin the wash, I diluted apple cider vinegar with water and drenched the hair with it. I used one cup of water and one teaspoon of the vinegar.  I covered with a shower cap for close to 30 minutes. I needed my scalp to really get the detox.  [1] To cleanse, I use groganics deep freeze shampoo and conditioner to detox the follicles and stimulate it too.  [2]To hydrate the hair, I just applied The Ordinary multipeptide hair serum to the scalp and let the hair dry.  As simple as the wash is, the next wash will be more involving as I have to deep condition. The Silicone Mix is an amazing deep conditioner; my hair loves it and it's a must have for me now.  I'm currently a few d

4 Ways To Moisturise Your Hair

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There are several options available for moisturizing and sealing your hair. You'll need to try them and find what works for you.  Method 1:Using your leave in conditioner (Especially if it is creamy or lotion). Apply to the hair and follow with an oil. Do this daily if you have to in order to keep the moisture in the hair.  Method 2: Using a hair moisturizer. If you are using Ors hairepair, S curl no drip moisturizer or the Hawaiian silky 14 in 1 moisturizer, you can spray it first and follow with the oil. Method 3: Use a very light leave in conditioner like the Creme of Nature Argan leave in conditioner  or hotfro leave in conditioner first, follow with your oil or butter and then follow with a creamy moisturizer like the Ors hairepair moisturizer or a styling creme. That's the L. O. C method.  Method 4: You'll use the light leave in conditioner or water, apply the Ors creamy moisturizer or hawaiian silky moisturizer and then your hair oil or butter. This is the L. C. O me

Wash Day for Week 1 February, 2020

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I'm going to be more detailed in this wash to help you understand how I wash my hair. This will be a series so stay tuned. To wash, I use any shampoo available. I have hotfro shampoo and groganics shampoo I alternate. I use one shampoo per week as a first step to wash my hair either home or at the salon.  Assuming you are using any of these, the Doo gro tingling shampoo will be step 1  Step. 2. After rinsing off the shampoo, I follow up with the hotfro conditioner or groganics conditioner and leave for 1 minute and rinse out.  Step 3. At this point, I apply the hotfro leave in conditioner (Red label) or if I have mega growth leave in conditioner, I use that. If I have Hawaiian Silky moisturizer, I use that or S curl No Drip moisturizer or the mega growth anti breakage strengthener. I like to add the amla oil at this point or the hotfro oil mix before the rollers are done. Step 4. I don't use any oil in the hair again after it is dry. I use a hair pomade on the scalp, here, it c